Chapter 10
Zach took a breath, shaking his head.
“Let’s get in the car and talk,” Gavin suggested.
They did so.
Zach took his seat in the back, and Gavin and Skye both twisted around from the front to listen to him.
“I don’t know what the plan or agenda might be,” Zach told the two of them.
“But the two didn’t think that they were disappearing from the party that night.
There was someone who, I believe, convinced the two of them that expediency was urgent; they had a full scholarship for Beau—football—that also gave him living facilities.
And if he was given private living facilities, Allie could live with him.
All she would need to do was talk her parents into giving her a little help; and if she couldn’t, she could apply for financial aid and get a part-time job.
Then they could be together. But it seems the people offering them the help turned out to be strange; they had to live in the woods and learn the ways of the master first.”
“‘The master’?” Gavin repeated.
“Yes. And … I think I heard that term from Patricia or one of the kids,” Zach said.
“‘Master’?” Skye said, too, frowning. “Okay, so the two of them agreed to go with whoever was in the sedan, but they didn’t agree to be swept off wherever they are now.”
He shook his head. “If I’m feeling what Beau is feeling, it’s a mixture of confusion and anger.
He and Allie are not being kept together; women stay with the children.
And he’s with …” Zach paused, wincing, trying to see clearly what he had seen through another person’s eyes.
“I think he’s with a homeless man who has been weaned off drugs, but a man so broken and miserable he thinks that he’s been saved somehow, that this master person saved him. ”
“None of this makes sense,” Gavin said.
“Wait, in a way, it makes perfect sense,” Skye told him.
“Kidnap children—and a mom and a young woman who is a perfect nanny and loves kids. Put them with children. Threaten the lives of children, and adults will agree to almost anything. They’re being brainwashed.
This master is trying to create a village, or a group—”
“A cult!” Gavin snapped. “Playing on the devil in the woods in Salem. It’s—heinous!
I mean, I love this community. The history is horrible, but those who choose to identify as wiccans here are good people, and the others …
either just stay here because they’re from here or they have family here, or because they can have fun and make a lot of money with creatures, even when it’s not Halloween. ”
“I share your feelings,” Zach told him.
“Are you certain—”
“I’m not certain of anything, except that whoever is doing this is keeping the people alive. He—or they—want something from them, but they need to be able to reprogram them. Deny people enough, scare them enough, you can do a lot with the human psyche,” Zach said.
“In a strange way, it makes sense,” Skye said.
“You said there’s someone with Beau in the men’s quarters, or whatever.
That means this started before anyone knew.
The people selected were addicts or mentally ill, probably on the streets, having no family to miss them when they disappeared.
And I believe they’re using drugs themselves to control those that they are stealing from houses, shops—or even teenage dances. ”
“All right,” Gavin said after a minute. “We believe we know what is going on, even if we don’t know exactly why.”
Zach shrugged. “Well … revenge for a slight, real or imagined. A simple psycho. There have been some wacky politicians out there, but I really don’t think that this is a way to run for office.”
“Who knows?” Skye said. “All you do is convince people who lean toward an idea that anything against it is a lie, and you can move mountains—or millions of people. But that would need to be something far in the future. How they possibly think they can get away with this forever—”
“They’ve done a good job so far,” Zach said.
“The tour,” Gavin said suddenly.
“What?” Zach questioned, sincerely confused for a minute.
“The tour! I never booked it.” He had his phone out.
“You are the one who can read minds. I still think you’re better suited to take it,” Skye reminded him.
“No. Like I told you before, I’m known in Salem.
Not by everyone, no; but if someone recognizes me along the way, on one of the stops …
well, it needs to be you two. And if you suspect anyone, I’ll make a point of meeting them when they can’t keep their distance from me.
But I do think it’s important for you to find out what is going on with that, discover if someone on the tour said something to our missing teenagers,” Gavin said.
“I guess we’re going on a tour,” Zach told Skye.
“Sure, sweetie, a ghost tour of Salem. I’m going to love it.” Skye laughed softly, looking at Gavin. “You know, we were both here many, many times during our growing-up years. Not together! We just had families who loved Salem or lived here at one time or another.”
“Then you’ll know when the lies and exaggerations come in,” Gavin told her.
“True. I’m not so sure tour guides like it when you correct them,” Zach noted.
“Don’t correct them; you’ll just know,” Gavin said.
He’d been busy pressing buttons as he spoke. He looked up, smiling at them. “You’re all set, Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Smith.”
“Smith? You could have just made us John and Jane Doe,” Skye said, groaning softly.
“Sorry. Smith just occurred to me. I thought Elijah would mix it up a bit”
Mix it up a bit? A name from Skye’s past?
“And, Skye, you’re Sheila.”
“Sheila Smith. Okay, then,” Skye said. She frowned suddenly. They’d started at nine, but there had been the drive out, the time at the convention center, and then visiting both sets of parents. She looked at her phone at the same time Zach looked at his.
“Four o’clock already. And—” Zach began.
“He needs to be fed. Mr. Smith needs fuel,” Skye told Gavin.
“Yeah, and I know you’ve already eaten in town, but there’s a great place near here with New England scrod, which is delicious, with buttery breadcrumbs on top, and there are crab dishes, ribs, chicken, even Maine lobster,” Gavin said.
“And guest what, Mrs. Smith? I rather like having some fuel during the day at some point, too.”
Skye chuckled softly.
“I think she’s a camel,” Zach told Gavin.
“A camel?” Skye protested.
“You know, a camel can go for miles and miles without water.”
“We had omelets this morning and then home-baked muffins!” Skye protested.
“Hey, I only ate one,” Zach said.
“And I didn’t even have one muffin, I was busy … listening,” Gavin said.
Skye laughed. “Guys! I have nothing against a meal. And I guess we couldn’t get too deep into any woods with the time we have before the tour.”
“It’s a trolley tour,” Gavin told them. “You won’t need to do too much walking.
From what I understand reading about the six o’clock tour, there’s some walking on Essex Street and near the Witch Museum and walking at each of the stops.
The tour doesn’t include entry to the attractions, which are naturally closed at night, but it does give the attendees coupons for discounts on many attractions.
But you’ll go by a lot of major sites, and you’ll hear whatever the tour guide has to say. ”
Skye looked at Zach and shrugged. “Well, we can get our bearings refreshed on what is where, while getting a nice ride on what will be a nicely temperate evening.”
“Let’s eat; then you two need to change! You look like Feds!” Gavin told them. He turned and started the car. “Look the menu up on your phones so we can go right in and order—no! We can call ahead.”
Zach didn’t care what they ate. He was still holding the shirt. He didn’t close his eyes; he’d seen what he needed to see for the moment. The strange feelings were still with him.
While he drove, Gavin called the police department, saying he needed to keep people in all the surrounding forests. He believed there had to be something like a compound hidden somewhere deep within the woods. They needed to find it.
When he finished his call, Skye asked what they wanted.
“Make it easy. We’ll all get the scrod,” Zach suggested.
“Sure, fine!” Skye said. She made the call, saying it wasn’t for pickup, and that they’d be there in a few minutes.
They were.
And the food was served as soon as they were seated.
“Good planning,” Zach told Gavin.
“I try.”
“All right, I have Beau’s shirt. I told you what I got,” Zach said, looking at Gavin. “Were they telling the truth—were they telling us everything they knew?”
Gavin nodded, pursing his lips grimly. “That’s just it. Both sets of parents were telling us the truth, as they knew it, of course. And it’s natural they’d want to blame one another’s child.”
“Such a … shame! They didn’t have that far to go,” Skye said.
“I was thinking at first that they were idiots,” Zach told her.
“But here’s the thing. This person who talked to them seriously convinced them that he—or she—could make everything come up roses for them.
Give them a place to live together, let them both get a good education, whether Allie’s parents disowned her or not. ”
“I guess that does make sense. They knew they were both about to be of legal age to do what they wanted, but neither of them wanted to alienate their parents if they didn’t have to, so …
yeah, I get it.” She was sitting next to Zach and looked across the table at Gavin.
“That puts us back to this—someone local must be involved!”
“Please don’t tell me that it’s the area witches,” Gavin moaned.
“Never. We’ve both known true wiccans by having been here a number of times ourselves, and that’s not it. The costume might be that of a horrible witch, but that’s not the game,” Zach said.
“You sound certain,” Gavin said.